I love having conversations and socializing with others who are from cultures other than my own.  I seek out this opportunity because besides it being an enlightening experience, I see the beauty that I find in others is an embodiment of God’s beauty. 

In the Denver area, the international cultures that I am most exposed to are Nepalese, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Mexican, and Indian.  Because I am well-traveled, I have equally embraced other cultures, including British, Bermudan, Costa Rican, South African, Moroccan, Tunisian, and other African cultures. 

I don’t come to the table empty handed either.  I come from a very rich New Orleans Creole culture.  I have posted about it in several articles.  So, in these conversations, we marvel in each other’s perspectives and uniqueness.  In the end, we leave such conversations more enlightened.

I strongly recommend interacting directly with other cultures for a very important reason:  it’s news!  In a sense, it’s news with authenticity.  It comes straight from the source.  It is also not tainted by profit motives.  Besides, they have no reason to lie.

My international friends have dispelled many stereotypical views that I didn’t realize I had from relying solely on broadcast news.  Equally, I dispelled many misconceptions that they may have had about African Americans and the negative portrayal that is often bestowed on us.

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I am always excited when I have lunch or dinner with a friend of mine from India.  He is very brilliant and speaks candidly with me on a full range of topics, including Hinduism, Indian Politics, the Economy, Reincarnation, and Philosophy.  He often presents a different perspective and I listen and entertain it very respectfully.  …That’s a must, Indian people are very graceful, polite, and nonconfrontational.  I present varying perspectives to him and he is equally as polite.

One day he made a statement that in essence claimed that Global Warming was not real.  I thought to myself that he was clearly wrong but decided to hear him out because this guy is rarely wrong.  I listened carefully, and by the end of this discussion, I surprisingly agreed with him.

My friend convinced me that it was senseless to believe that we had the power to save the planet, which he is right, we don’t.  The Earth is 4.543 billion years old.  Humans are about 200,000 years old.  The Earth does not operate on its own devices or ego.  Its directions come directly from God.  Man operates on his own and collectively aims to fulfill his will, not God’s.

This is not Mother Nature’s first rodeo.  She has adapted to extreme changes in the climate for billions of years.  It has endured such changes usually in 100,000-year increments.  Nature has ‘been there, done that’.  It will survive and adapt to whatever the universe and we throw at it.  We just may not survive these changes, as we didn’t during many of the historic climate change events.  It was due to prior climate changes that the environment became poised to sustain life.

My friend is correct, but I would make his statement differently.  Global Warming as its showcase is an ill concept.  We do not have to concern ourselves with saving the planet.  We are simply incapable.

Instead, we should be concentrating on saving our damned selves.  Mother Nature is going to do her thing in accordance with how we honor her.  We have to worry, not her.

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 Dalai Lama says about praying – 7,678 views – Nuriati Parman – Published on Dec 17, 2017

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Quotes

“Man is not himself only…He is all that he sees; all that flows to him from a thousand sources…He is the land, the lift of its mountain lines, the reach of its valleys.” – Mary Austin

“We inter-breath with the rain forests, we drink from the oceans.  They are part of our own body.”  Thich Nhat Hanh

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” – William Shakespeare

“Your deepest roots are in nature.  No matter who you are, where you live, or what kind of life you lead, you remain irrevocably linked with the rest of creation.” – Charles Cook

“Believe one who knows: you will find something greater in woods than in books.  Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.” – Saint Bernard de Clairvaux

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We fail at other virtues on the issue of Global Warming.  I would begin with lack of love for humanity and nature, as well as being honest with ourselves about how disrespectable to God and nature we truly are.  If we loved ourselves more, as well as others, perhaps we would be as passionate about saving our own damned lives, than thinking that we have the power to save the plan.  Time will only make us wiser.  We better at being reactive than we are at being proactive.

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Poem

My Mother Nature

By Kevy Michaels

My mind was challenged the other day

So, I took a scenic drive

To Cherry Creek Park

To reflect and work it all out

I was greeted by Canadian geese

Who anxiously approached me

Upon my arrival

They greeted me like no child of God ever has

…Except for my mother nature

They squawked in appreciation

For the bits of banana, I gave to them

With such humility and authenticity

Like no one has ever given to me before

When the treat was gone

They gracefully returned to eating grass

Without complaint

Unlike me, when not getting exactly what I wanted

Squirrels were playfully animated too

Excited by the simplicity of a pinecone falling from a tree

As if it had fallen from heaven

…Tossing a mere pinecone kept them joyful!

The trees in the background were barren

From enduring the winter

But still stood aligned in pride

Though they had no leaves or flowers to adorn them

It reminded me of how ungratefully shameful I was

When standing to reveal my wounds

The winds toyed with its branches

Just to strengthen them

They would bend only when necessary

Otherwise, they stood firmer

…Firmer than I’ve ever stood even in gentle winds

Then…

I reflected on my mother Eunice

Her virtues were just like nature’s

Did nature reveal its secrets to her?

She too was gracious and welcoming

Her gratitude was like that of the geese

Even when she was not adorned as cherry blossoms in the springtime

She held her head high

In tattered clothing, with 9 children clinging to her side

She stood in the eye of many storms

Never bowing

But bending only to endure it

…And she always did

She found happiness

In the simplicity of what she had

…Never focusing on what she didn’t

Did nature reveal these secrets to her?

Was it that she and nature were simply connected to the same Most High God

As we should all be?

Was I led to this spot on that day?

…To ponder these questions?

If so, they were never answered

I’m not sure if they will ever be

While I’m here on earth

What’s most important

Is that when I drove away

My mind was no longer troubled

I was confident that

Like all of nature

…And like my mother

To my adversities

I must Stand firm

…At least until Spring comes

And, since then

It’s come several times

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Additional Videos

When discussing climate change, it’s not about saving the planet. 195 countries just made a historic agreement to battle climate change. But it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the politics and details. Here we zoom out from the present moment, taking a look at where we came from to get a new perspective on where we’re headed. Learn all about the Paris climate change deal here: Subscribe to our channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO

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Stephen Hawking: We Must Leave Earth To Survive | – Expedition New Earth | Earth Lab – 38,260 views – BBC Earth Lab – Published on Dec 2, 2017

Stephen Hawking predicts humans must be prepared to leave earth in the next 100 years if we are to survive. This video is to promote the program Expedition New Earth, part of the Being Human season on BBC Earth. Subscribe to Earth Lab for more fascinating science videos – http://bit.ly/SubscribeToEarthLab *Stephen Hawking: We Must Leave Earth To Survive – Expedition New Earth* With climate change, pollution, deforestation, pandemics, and population growth, our own planet is becoming increasingly precarious. Professor Stephen Hawking explains his thoughts about the future of our species.

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Spirituality and Environmental Awareness | Sadhguru – 21,258 views – Sadhguru – Published on Jun 5, 2016

Sadhguru looks at how spirituality and being conscious of every life around us are not different. Spare the forests. Plant trees in farmlands.  When I traveled abroad I was in the, you know, certain conferences, people came up to me and said, ‘Oh you are that amazing tree planter.’ (Laughs) I said, ‘I am not a tree planter.’ They said, ‘Why you planted millions of trees, didn’t you?’ I said, ‘But I am not a tree planter.’ So, they asked me, ‘What do you do?’ So, I said, ‘I make people flower.’ (Laughs) If people flower within themselves, they clearly understand there is nothing here which is not connected to them. There is nothing on this planet or anywhere in the universe which is not connected to you. If you feel this connection, if this is not an idea in your mind, if this is a living reality for you that you experience everything as a part of yourself, taking care of everything is just like taking care of your body to whatever extent you can do, you do. So spiritual process and taking care of the world, taking care of the people, taking care of the animal or the plant, are not different because anybody who claims to be spiritual and be… and becomes oblivious to what’s around him, there is nothing spiritual about him unless he is also oblivious to himself. Only that being who is oblivious to his own pain, who is oblivious to even his own existence, he can afford to be oblivious to everybody and everything. As long as you are conscious of your pain and your way of being, you have to be conscious of the way of everything that’s happening around you; there is no other way to be.

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Being cognizant of international visitors, I want to do all that I can to communicate wisdom globally for all.

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